Done, thanks. The pdf is of a scientific article.

It's literally a one pager;

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 27, October 2019, 102002

with a hosted web version at

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1...

The Abstract outlines the goal of puncturing a myth:

    The ethnographic account of an Inuit man manufacturing a knife from his own frozen feces to butcher and disarticulate a dog has permeated both the academic literature and popular culture.

    To evaluate the validity of this claim, we tested the basis of that account via experimental archaeology. Our experiments assessed the functionality of knives made from human feces in controlled conditions that provided optimal conditions for success.

    However, they were not functional.

    While much research has shown foragers to be technologically resourceful, innovative, and savvy, we suggest that this ethnographic account should no longer be used to support that narrative.

I'm reminded of our undergrad in-campus physics journal article on the results of several students shaving with razors some of which where kept under pyramids against a control group which were not.

This is a better link, wish I could update.

It's a good find, not hugely significant but it gave me a chuckle :-)

Appreciate the run-down on it, and may read later. But I tend to be wary when you click a link and suddenly a small file unexpectedly downloads.

Understandable - I pulled it down through a Qubes sandbox and the Convert to Trusted PDF tool

https://blog.invisiblethings.org/2013/02/21/converting-untru...

I wonder how they controlled for material properties of the... material.

It seems there it a lot of variability there, as a natural product.

(With all those sharp claws, carnassials and canines around, and he started playing with clay and saliva? guy, please...)